Handling Unexpected Features During Sprint

Sprint in Agile Scrum has planned a list of Product Backlog items to be worked on during the Sprint duration. The product backlog items may contain features, tasks, and issues. However unplanned or unexpected features and issue fixes may arise during a Sprint due to various reasons including customer requests or feedback, stakeholder feedback, bug fixes, or changes to existing requirements. This article will discuss the strategies for handling the expected features during Sprint.

Unexpected Features During Sprint

Sprint in Agile Scrum is a well-planned and pre-defined set of Product Backlog items that contains user stories of new features, changes, or additions to existing features and issues. Each Sprint has a fixed duration set by product different teams and the planned product backlog items for a Sprint are completed within that Sprint duration. But there are scenarios where unexpected features arrive during a Sprint which can be classified and defined as below:

1. Additional Features: During a sprint, additional features can arrive based on customer feedback or any urgent need identified by the customer. Customers may request to add these additional features to be included in the current sprint.
2. Updates to already defined features: Based on customer feedback or stakeholder inputs, changes may be suggested to the existing features or any features being worked on during the current sprint
3. Issues from Production: There could be bugs or issues that arrive from production, which may need urgent attention and fixing. These could be urgent items that have to be worked on immediately as they could be of the highest priority.
4. Evolving Business Needs: During the Sprint, some requirements may arrive to add or update features based on the evolving business needs or due to some information received about a feature that needs to be worked on instead of any items being worked on or in addition to the items being worked on during the current sprint.
5. External Factors: There could be updates or additional changes due to some external factors like changing market conditions or business competition which need to be worked on during the current sprint on priority instead of the planned work items.

Responding to change and handling unexpected features is the key to maintaining agility and delivering value in an Agile environment in the scrum.

Handling the Unexpected Features

Handling unexpected features during a sprint can be crucial and tricky but there are several ways to handle the situation while keeping the current sprint’s integrity and achieving its goals. Below are some of the techniques to handle the unexpected features:

1. Assess the Feature

When a new feature or request to refine an already working feature or any issues fix arrives during the sprint, the items should be assessed for criticality and value potential to the product. Once, it is worth working on during the sprint, then these should be discussed with the scrum team and stakeholders to analyze and accept.

2. Evaluate the Impact and Urgency

Assess the impact of the unexpected feature or issues with the current sprint’s goals, timeline and user stories being worked on. Also, consider the urgency and importance of the features or issue fix received.

3. Effort Estimation

Analyze the complexity and effort required for the unexpected features and issues to verify, if the items can be completed within the current sprint without compromising the commitments already made and goals to be achieved.

4. Accept or Move to Product Backlog Items

After analyzing the unexpected features or issues received during the sprint, the scrum team can accept them to be worked on during the current sprint or add to the product backlog items to be worked on during the upcoming sprints.

5. Using Buffer Time Available

Generally, each sprint is planned with a 20% buffer time to handle any delays or unexpected features received. Also, the buffer time is used to handle any issues fixed which could be high-priority items to be handled immediately. The scrum team can check and verify if the buffer time is available and if the unexpected items can be handled using this.

6. Adapt, Re-prioritize Backlog and Replan

When there is no buffer time available or unexpected items can not be completed using the buffer time, then the team needs to re-organize the current backlog items. If these unexpected items are to be included in the current sprint, then some of the lower priority items then the newly received ones can be moved out to the next Sprint and the new items can be included in the current sprint. However, the scrum team must replan and product owner must approve the changes in discussion with the development team as they need to accept the change in backlog items and work items. Since the sprint backlog is owned by development team, they are the key persons who need to evaluate and accept the updated work items and priorities.

7. Communicate and Collaborate

All team members and stakeholders should be informed and collaborate about the updated plans in sprint backlog items and unexpected work items added to the current sprint, with clear communication about the situation and chosen approach. This will set the expectations right and keep everyone updated on the progress.

8. Continuous Improvement

The Scrum Team can consider the unexpected features as opportunities for continuous improvement and to implement the principle of Agile methodology. During the Sprint retrospective meeting, team can discuss the situation that arose when unexpected items arrived how it was handled and if any improvement in process is needed.

Conclusion

Handling the unexpected features during a sprint can be done successfully with prior planning and adopting the right approach. With clear communication and team collaboration the unexpected features can be handled with ease during a Sprint while maintaining team morale and project goals. The scrum team should also analyze and learn from these unexpected features to minimize it’s occurrence in future.